The flight was uneventful, but Steve enjoyed observing the many builds below them. He enjoyed seeing the sentients display their behaviours.
As they flew, he made a mental tally and a library of all the sapients he saw. Physical growth and deterioration, coloring, and reproduction.
The two of them eventually landed at the large doors of a pale yellow building. It looked like a decorated dome made of rock.
"This is the center of communication," the tall male told him. "This is where the representatives of the Venerated Collective shall communicate to you."
The tall male led him into a large room with, which had a painting that had the seemingly moving images of an amphibian sapient and an avian sapient, both wearing flowing, green robes with golden embroidery. At least, they looked like embroidery. He extended his sight, looking for something similar, and he saw two sapients that resembled these two, twenty three miles away.
'A painting for communication,' Steve thought.
On the side, Steve saw a black-haired short male with drab grey skin and green eyes. Their eyes met, and Steve knew that it was Artur. His beard was fantastic, too.
His face, however, was serious.
"Sir Steve," Artur thought to him, "Would you please hide the fact that there are only two humans?"
Steve blinked.
Artur paused, then continued, "Let them think there are more than just two, but say nothing outright."
Steve blinked again. "Agreement," he replied.
Artur nodded, then he started speaking to the moving painting.
The two representatives were eager to start negotiations, but Artur knew he had to make everyone a little more calm.
He started talking, "I comprehend that you did not arrive in body as a defensive measure, but you must comprehend..."
He paused, gauging their reactions. They weren't interested.
Artur then continued, "The Human known as Steve," the name was foreign on his lips, "Has the competence to talk to your minds. He can do so through electric defenses. We do not know the range, but given that this is likely signal-based, he might be able to do so from our position on this planet's surface. Yes, you who are in far orbit."
The avian—probably the one called 'Mondset', those damned avians—and the amphibian glanced at each other in possible surprise, perhaps dread.
"That is news," the amphibian stated. Could this one be the Mondset? The amphibian continued. "We were not briefed or notified about the Human having the ability to talk using telepathy."
Artur shrugged. "You can talk to him yourselves," he said. "I will relay your words to each other."
For a moment, the two looked worried... But Artur didn't give a damn. Thinking was faster than talking.
"Sir Steve," he looked to the Human. "You may now talk to these two."
Steve's face was seemingly perpetually blank, or dopey, but it seemed he heard Artur.
And perhaps Artur was too stupid to remember a recent incident.
Steve looked at the screen and paused.
Suddenly, the two officers look simultaneously surprised and impressed. They glanced at each other. The avian raised an eyebrow.
Artur sighed internally. He forgot to tell Steve to talk through him. Never mind that. He can't do anything to stop this, now.
'Was this what the maintenance worker felt before?' he asked himself.
Sigh, all he can do now is to pretend that this was always the plan...
And goodness, Steve's range was so large!
The amphibian smiled, its teeth looked strangely human. "Greetings, Sir Steve the Human," it-he spoke with a baritone. "We are the representatives of the Venerated Collective. I am called Beer, of the people Cannegat."
The avian then spoke with a similar baritone, "I am called Joqal, of the people Chur Sinim."
Steve gently smiled back. Smiling was good. He assumed the majority of human social cues were compatible with the ones that the sapients here had.
"Greetings," he started, "I am Steve, of the people Human."
"Wonderful," Beer, the amphibian, said, "We are pleased to welcome you and your people to the Venerated Collective."
Steve was a bit confused, but spoke nothing.
"There seemed to have been a misunderstanding," Beer continued, face solemn. "We have brought a fleet of war-ships here because a Crafted Being told us of a possible invasion-"
Crafted Being? Steve felt interested, but shelved that thought for later. He tilted his head.
"-But we have come here despite it, with the intention of peace between whatever people we may encounter and the Venerated Collective."
Joqal, the avian, then spoke, "We have deduced that the Crafted Being was wrong in its assumptions. Clearly, you are not a threat to the people nor are you actively threatening anyone."
"Yes," Beer said, "We have seen that you were socializing well with the locals." He nodded and smiled. He continued, "You have shown yourself as a peaceful and amicable being. These are qualities that make the best of the Venerated Collective."
On the other side of the system, the fleet broke into two smaller groups. One subgroup continued approaching the planet, while the other stayed.
However, three of the frigates from the remaining group went farther from the system itself at exponentially farther distances. Their crews were prepared to initiate their superluminal drives at a moment's notice, ready to flee in order relay messages both through the ships themselves and quantum communications.
It was an ancient formation, a redundancy to prepare for unforseeable problems. The method was intended for far greater enemies. It was a practiced move, repeatedly done during simulations.
The members of the Void Defence Force are always prepared. They didn't think that the alien is a threat, no...
This is simply who they are.
Of course, not all Void DF fleets are so prepared... But that doesn't matter, in the end.
With the introductions finished, Beer and Joqal ceased to chat with him. Instead, they start communicating with both Artur and the tall, armored male.
When Steve heard them speak, he confirmed that their mental voices and their physical voices sounded similar. The room, however, somehow made their physical voices louder, slightly above normal speaking voice.
The tall male spoke, and Steve heard some words he could recognize. "Tunnel", "Human", "Steve", "Old male", "Children", and "People".
The more they spoke to each other, the more that Steve's reference of the language increased in volume. At the same time, he cross-referenced every word they spoke and the words they thought, slowly increasing his mastery of the main language.
There seemed to be many languages in this one plane-sphere—most of them sharing some words or even phrases—, and an even larger amount on the ships he could see far away.
'Why are they so far from each other?' he thought to himself. 'Especially the farthest three.'
Every moment was an opportunity for learning, and since there were no communication attempts directed at himself, he could freely let his mind wander.
Beer and Joqal had finished talking with the tall male, and they then started talking with Artur.
Steve heard some familiar words, and could confidently infer what some of them mean.
"Talk with the mind", "Worker accompaniment", "Park", then Arthur gestured at the tall male.
The tall male's mind was full of surprise. He then started speaking. "Steve shared food with the children" and some other words Steve couldn't guess.
Beer and Joqal glanced at each other with what Steve could guess was surprise. They then babbled to each other in another, unknown language for a good minute.
When they finished, they both looked at Steve. Their eyes glinted, seemingly full of eagerness.
"Sir Steve," Joqal started, "We have heard that you have machines of perfect replication. We have also heard that your replicator machine could perfom replication rapidly. We find these things to be wonderful, and would like to formally invite you and your species into the Venerated Collective."
Beer then spoke, "We would also like for you to show us a demonstration of your machine. We will see them with our own eyes."
From context, Steve guessed that they thought his duplication was made by a machine. He wondered what things these sapients saw that would make them assume that something like this was done by a crafted machine and not a living thing.
Still, Steve had to remove this misconception.
"The duplicator is not a machine," Steve replied. "It is something that humans do."
Beer and Joqal glanced at each other.
"Still," Joqal said, waving a hand towards Steve, "Your replication is something that is associated with humans. We would still like to invite your species into the Venerated Collective."
"That is not possible," Steve said. "But I am willing to duplicate things for you, for a price."
Beer and Joqal glanced at each other.
Beer spoke, "What would you want in exchange?"
Finally, an opportunity for trade. Steve smiled. Using his knowledge of newer concepts, he crafted his argument,
"I want the Venerated Collective to live in my own worlds. If that is not possible, I would want the Collective's Senate to issue permits in order to allow anyone willing to join my worlds. Whoever will settle will be provided with a number of resources at their request."
Beer's brows furrowed.
Joqal hummed, "Why do we have to be the one to join you? Why can't you join the Venerated Collective? We can offer worlds for you to habitate, and technologies that you might desire. Entertainment, food, social needs, we can provide for them all."
Time slowed, for a second.
Steve was a very patient man. If he could not convince Beer or Joqal, one day he will convince someone. That is simply how the world works, for him.
Still, he answered honestly, "Because my worlds are empty, with nothing but builds and flora, and I want sapient life to settle in them."
Beer glanced at Joqal. Joqal hummed, and did not speak for a few moments.
"Well," Joqal spoke, "This is a matter beyond our authority. We must consult our superiors on what to do, because it is protocol."
"Returning to the topic," Beer started, "I ask you, Sir Steve: What is the limit to the amount of replicated objects you can create?"
On a technical level, Steve knew there was a limit of 64 stacks of an object in his inventory. Problem is, it could be a stack of anything... Even a stack of stacks. Or a stack of stacks of stacks.
Realistically, there was only one correct answer.
"None," Steve replied. Beer and Joqal shared a dubious glance.
"Size?" Joqal asked, "Weight?"
"There is no limit," Steve said, nodding.
"No," Joqal said, "I meant-"
Beer tapped Joqal on the shoulder and started speaking to him. For a minute and a little over a half, they talked, making hand gestures that Steve couldn't decipher. Well, at least humans and these sapients have some similarities, even if it's not everything. He was lucky that they even shared some.
When they stopped, Beer looked at Steve, while Joqal disappeared off the moving painting.
"Apologies for the delay," Beer said. "We desire to test your replication limits. There is a machine that we would like for you to replicate, but we do not know yet if you are capable."
"I understand," Steve said, nodding. Beer nodded back.
The following day, four more ships arrived, locked gravitationally to the plane-sphere, or planet, the sapients called it.
The ships landed, bringing large pieces of things. From objects the size of his hand, a simple shape, made of one material, gradually becoming bigger and more complex, until the largest was an object the size of 5 by 7 cubes. The object was made of complex parts, and in an instant, Steve knew that it was made of machine parts that have no purpose other than movement and conduction of lightning.
Flying machines that looked like stylized crabs the size of a cube flew and placed the objects in a pleasant grid. Sapients in dark blue armor accompanied them, flying and possibly directig the machines.
Beer and Joqal watched the physical demonstrations personally. Beer was surprisingly larger than Steve, and Joqal was even taller. They wore little to no protection but their clothing, unlike how Artur met him.
He gave them a wave, and they both waved back.
Steve was made to duplicate the objects on a downward slope of item count. The smaller the object, the more he made of them, ending with the large block of complex, purposeless machines.
He didn't understand why they didn't make him create the same amount of duplicates each time.
He touched each required item, taking note of its form, and forming a copy in his inventory. He created the required amount, and released them in a neat, orderly square-shaped formation—as much as it was possible with non-even numbers. Then, he moved on to the next object. This pattern repeated for fifty-seven times.
When he arrived at the third largest object, Steve could feel the shock of the onlookers. When he duplicated the second largest into three seperate objects, the surrounding sapients were surprised. When he duplicated the largest one, Beer and Joqal clapped.
It seemed clapping was a universal thing.
After Steve was done, the two approached him.
Beer communicated first. "Sir Steve," he said. "We are grateful for your cooperation. If you are not fatigued, we may now proceed to the next item for you to duplicate."
Steve did not understand why replication would cause a status effect on him, but he nodded his consent, nonetheless.
Joqal gestured to behind him, where Steve saw the tall male who accompanied him, along with other sapients with similar but varied heights, wearing the armor that Steve had seen during his first contact under the mine shaft.
"Sir Steve," Joqal thought, "Please follow them."
Surprisingly, they entered the mineshaft he last saw.
They entered through an elevator, and he could feel their descent. When they arrived, he saw a large square door, and two machines in the form of sapients greeted them, speaking in the language that Joqal and Beer spoke.
"We are arriving in a protected location," the still-unnamed tall male thought, "The machines ask for proof of authority to enter."
A relatively short female from their group stepped forward, reaching out with her right arm. A three-dimensional image appeared, floating on her wrist armor in the form of a shield. Then, the machines said something, then returned to their original pose, looking straight at nothing in particular.
The door split in the middle, opening... and Steve saw that they were in a room overlooking the large machine that was in the mineshaft.
The coordinates matched.
He realized that, were he just a hundred meters off when he first descended, he could have dug straight into this room.
Lights sprung into being, and Steve noticed that the room contained a multitude of similar opaque black glass panes containing moving paintings.
One of the moving paintings contained the images of Beer and Joqal.
"Sir Steve," Joqal started, "We would like for you to duplicate this collision machine in front of you. If you think you are unable to do so yet, then please tell us if you wish to take a break."
Steve nodded. "Where do I put the duplicated object?" he replied.
Beer's brows rose, and he spoke, "If you are capable, please put it on the surface of the planet."
"Agreement," Steve said.
The short female tapped him on the shoulder, and Steve teleported in front of the large machine.
He perceived the sapients making noises after his movement, but he focused on his trade. He touched the machine, etching the form, the blueprints, the very _essence_ of it into his inventory, creating one copy.
It took an instant.
Steve teleported to the directly-up surface, on a large patch of flat, grassy plains with vegetation the color of magenta. He reached out his hand, and placed the machine into this reality, crushing and displacing the grass and some soil.
He searched for the minds of Beer and Joqal, and thought,
"I am finished."
He perceived their faces become surprised.
"Wonderful!" Beer exclaimed.
"Exciting!" Joqal exclaimed.
Steve started, "Will you begin your consultation with your superiors?"
In the distance, approaching at rapid speed, he saw a small, flying object that look like a mechanical eyeball, complete with—after a short scan—a functioning iris and cornea.
Beer spoke, "Forgive us for the lack of clarity, but we have not told you to duplicate the requested item yet-"
Steve felt a small pang of irritation.
"-But we shall proceed to that one. After you rest, of course."
"I do not require rest," Steve said.
Their worded thoughts paused, and Joqal spoke,
"If you say so. If you require rest, you may tell us."
Steve replied, "Agreement."
"Please," Beer started, "Kindly follow the drone to the location of the item."
The so-called drone arrived in front of him, its lens focused on him, then it turned around, flying slower this time.
Steve followed.
In the distance, Steve saw a large ship carrying Beer and Joqal fly away until the gravitational effect on them became barely noticable.
From afar, he saw two circles of exposed, orange soil placed far apart from each other. In one of the circles, he saw a large, circular machine sixteen cubes tall, with a hole in the middle that was fourteen cubes in diameter. He saw that armored sapients were putting down smaller machines, with long, thick strings connecting them to the larger one. The other circle also had armored sapients, but their machines were still stored in boxes. Portable chests.
On the way, the drone made a short, high-pitched sound, and left. Steve landed gently, and he thought that the machine looked like a portal.
One of the sapients, wearing an armor of brilliant yellows and oranges, held a thin, metal slab that contained the moving paintings of Beer and Joqal.
"Sir Steve," Joqal started, "We would like for you to duplicate this machine as accurately as you can. Please place it on the exposed soil a hundred meters west."
Steve nodded, "Agreement."
He walked towards the machine, and touched it. He teleported to the other circle, and he placed an exact copy of the machine in the center, sans the strings. He wasn't told to replicate those.
"Thank you, Sir Steve," Beer spoke, "Now, we shall proceed with testing how accurate the copy is. Please, rest as you wish."
The sapients nearby began to unload the machines from their respective chests. One of the boxes carried a number of spooled versions of the thick strings. The pair of sapients unloading it suddenly unrolled the string, and other sapients started taking some, rushing to their previous positions.
Each string was then connected to a seperate, small machine, and the other end was connected to one of the holes in the large portal-like machine.
One of the sapients pulled out a small tablet, and light poured from it, shining on the newly duplicated large machine, fitting perfectly on its form.
Minutes passed, and Steve waited. He perceived both the planet and the many nearby ships, making sure not to look at things that were too far away, else his attention would lessen. He listened to conversations, and catalogued behaviors. He cross-referenced and inferred from words and phrases that he knew, and continued learning the language. In this planet, there were at least seven sapients who were teaching language, and he listened.
Minutes passed, and he increased in knowledge, slowly decrypting the many, many languges of the sapients in his focus.
A while later, the armored sapient that carried the metal slab approached him.
The faces of Beer and Joqal looked pleased.
"Sir Steve," Joqal started, "We have confirmed that the duplicate is completely accurate. We will now use this to try and convince our superiors to begin talks with you directly. You have done well."
"You have done well," Beer thought.
Steve smiled.
He had performed the first steps. Now, he waits.